Chinese art and antiques have been spared from the imposition of a new US import tax on Chinese goods, after protests by art market leaders that the move would hurt US-based art and antiques firms and collectors, ATG has learned.

Brexit minister Dominic Raab revealed the government has hired an extra 300 staff for the Home Office’s Border Force ready for the UK’s exit from the European Union and will recruit another 1000 “ready to deal with any increase in work”.

A leading art market lawyer is among more than 300 US business chiefs, legal experts and trade bodies attending hearings in Washington, DC this week to argue against the Trump administration’s proposed tariffs on Chinese imports into the US.

The US-China trade war, previously the stuff of new technology, heavy industry and agribusiness, has now opened a new front: cultural heritage. The threat of a 25% tariff on imported Chinese art and antiques will soon be discussed in Washington, DC.

A now-postponed plan by HMRC to require businesses and the self-employed to file tax returns quarterly rather than yearly “would create havoc” if it was imposed as scheduled in 2018, dealers have told ATG.

The decision to delay and possibly shelve a requirement for businesses and the self-employed to file tax returns quarterly rather than yearly has been welcomed by dealer body BADA, which had lobbied against it.